Phone Signal :S

[CompetentSailor]

I'm an engine cadet just completing phase 1, goin to sea in april, and i'm just wondering if i will get a signal on my moblie phone if i get a new one with quad band, and if not, what network gets the best signal ?

thanks

[chris]

well that depends on which part of the sea you'll be in or maybe your ship has its own mobile network (cruise ships)

[electrolytic_coffee]

Dont think quad band will help you much imho.... I have a qb blackberry, when i was in the carribean last year my networks were intermittent, my GF currently out there loses signal all together when she goes near st maarten. Weve both got contracts with some international add ons with vodafone as we asked around on our ships as to a decent network and voda got mentioned the most....though tbh the service leaves a lot to be desired still when it comes to billing and pricing. Also, she has a t-mobile PAYG sim they have a blackberry specific package which includes international data and BBM which is our primary means of comms that we were trying out but that too is subject to the apparent st. maarten sink hole lol but probably the best so far just for BBM.

Last year i went to sea with a different provider, around the med i got reasonably good reception in some countries i got severly stung by bills because of roaming charges. . As for voice comms...cant really help that stuff starts getting expensive just like unregulated roaming, best advice get a sim which you can top up every month which will give you access to a data package and use a phone such as a blackberry or other smartphone for Instant messaging instead..... again just my advice , other people may have different suggestions which work so maybe see what they have to say.

[CompetentSailor]

i will be working only offshore in the north sea, but from what i'm hearing i will be on standyby so i wont be coming in and out of port

[chris]

the Norwegian oil platforms have got their own mobile masts (I used to get a signal when the Newcastle-Gothenburg ferry I was on passed them)

Its not difficult to create a mobile cell and link it to a vsat, so I imagine a lot of the rigs have mobile signals now

[ETwhat?]

[QUOTE=chris;45191Its not difficult to create a mobile cell and link it to a vsat, so I imagine a lot of the rigs have mobile signals now[/QUOTE]

its easy to do, just not cheap.

you shouldnt need a quad band phone if your only in europe, and triband is only needed for north america.